I don't know of any engines that dictate material properties. There are some where the default settings on the default materials are questionable coughUnity3Dcough. But a big studio game shouldn't/wouldn't be using the defaults on just about anything.

One of the biggest things indie game developers can do to not look like an indie game is to stop using the default settings on the default materials. Not necessarily even using custom materials. Just don't use the default settings.